“Nough Said” Layer Cake Quilt

My daddy was a quiet man who loved the out of doors. He had an uncanny ability to connect with people on a personal level. It still amazes me how he could sit down with someone and within 10 minutes share a bond that reached to their deepest roots. It amazes me, but it isn’t really a surprise. Daddy designed camps. Anyone who ever spent time at a Boy Scout or Girl Scout or Church Camp, anyone who ever drove through a national park or enjoyed the view from the top of a mountain or the side of a lake stood where my Dad stood. He would share that moment with you…in detail…because he had been there.

When Dad met my beloved he knew exactly where G had grown up. The man could describe the drive way and the house and where the trees were planted. Dad had been past it a hundred times on the way into the Sierra National Park.

I have no doubt that he could do it with you, too.

To me, this quilt is all about that – connections. I made it with Reunion by Sweetwater…a fabric line about connections….+’s and x’s connect numbers……the blocks form chains….you get the picture….. ‘Nough Said.

1 Layer Cake (42 10″x10″ charms)

for +’s and x’s

I used Reunion by Sweetwater

1 1/2 yards Red

for inner border, sashing, and x’s

I used the red from A Stitch in Color by Malka Dubrawsky (#23210 16)

1 yard Cream

for sashing

I really don’t know what I used, I wasn’t paying attention when I bought it, but you could use Porcelain from Bella Solids (#9900 182) and get the same result.

1 1/2 yards Outer Border

I used the news print on porcelain from Reunion (#5471 13)

My original plan was to use the grey with dandelion dots (#54762 1)

My original idea for this quilt

4 yards Backing

I have to admit it….my taste changed a little between the time I bought the fabric and the time I finished the quilt. I bought grey chevrons (#5473 1) as my outer border and the news print (#5471 13) as my back. When I got to the point of adding my borders, I didn’t like that anymore. So I used the fabric I had on hand for the backing to make the borders. As a result my backing wasn’t big enough. What you see is the remainder of my original backing plus 8 charm squares and some of the chevrons. I kind of like the results.

All of this to say – go ahead and be creative!

1/2 yard dark blue

for binding

Again, I have no idea what I used. It is dark blue. Bella Solids, #9900 174, American Blue would do the trick.

This quilt can be viewed in a couple of ways.

It might be 64, 4″ blocks set in an 8 by 8 grid with 2″ sashing all around. This view helped me a great deal when I was cutting things out. Not so much when I was piecing it. (I get intimidated by large numbers.)

A friendlier view is 16, 10″ blocks set in a 4 by 4 grid with 2″ sashing all around. From this perspective it kind of looks like the “+’s & x’s” quilt that is so popular in blog-land.

Cutting Instructions:

From Red

Cut 10, 3 1/8″ x width of fabric (wof) strips

Sub cut into 128, 3 1/8″ x 3 1/8″ squares

Cut 5, 2″ x wof strips

Set aside for inner border

Cut 3, 2 1/2″ x wof strips

Sub cut into 40, 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares

From Cream

Cut 9, 2 1/2″ x wof strips

Sub cut strips into 144 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares

From Layer Cake

Divide cake into a pile of lights and darks

From lights

Select 16 charms

Cut each charm into 4, 5″ x 5″ squares

From darks

Select 13 charms

Cut each charm into 16, 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares

Keep these squares in sets of 5 matching squares. They will become +’s later on.

Yes, you will have extras.

From Outer Border

Cut 6, 5 1/2″ x wof strips

Set aside for outer border.

Break time!!! If you have worked all the way through the cutting you need a break. Go for a walk. Call your Dad just to say hi. Pet the dog. Stretch. The quilt will go together much more smoothly this way. Trust me.

Piecing Instructions:

64 Little blocks (& 128 bonus half square triangles)

Gather

128, 3 1/8″ x 3 1/8″ red squares

64, 5″ x 5″ light squares from layer cake

Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of each red square

Align one red square and one light square, right sides together so that the diagonal line is parallel to the corner.

Sew just to the outside edge of the drawn line….closer to the common corner.

This step is optional – I hate tossing extra bits of fabric. So I’ve included this step. Call it a bonus block. Hope over to my blog and see what you can do with them.

Draw a second line 1/2 inch to the outside of the stitching you have just done. (the green line)

Sew just to the inside of this line…between the blue and green lines along the green line.

When you have a minute head over to my blog to see what I did with my bonus blocks.

Cut excess, 1/4″ from sewn line between the line and the aligned corner (or between the two sewn lines if you made the bonus hsts).

Iron seam allowances toward the red.

Repeat on opposite corner.

Trim blocks to 4 1/2″ x 4 1/2″

16 Bigger blocks

Gather:

64 little blocks

64 cream 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares

80 dark 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares (16 sets of 5 matching squares)

Sew each cream square to a dark square.

16 dark squares will be saved for the centers.

Iron seam allowances towards the dark squares

Keeping dark sets together, and scrambling the light patches in the little blocks, combine patches to make 16 bigger blocks as shown above….more or less, your fabrics will all be different.

Connector Units:

Gather

80 cream 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares

40 red 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares

Sew 40 red squares to 40 cream squares.

Iron seam allowances toward the red.

Sew 40 cream squares to the red/cream units, parallel to the seam just sewn, making 40 units that are cream, red, cream.

Iron seam allowances toward the red.

Rows:

At this point it is very helpful to use a design wall….or floor….or bed. The idea is to find a place where you can set your blocks out and see what you are doing.

Gather

16 big blocks (BB)

40 connector units (CU)

25 sets of 5 matching dark 2 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ squares (DS)

Arrange 9 alternating rows starting and ending with a sashing row.

At this point I found it easiest to pin the dark squares as a unit of 5, taking them off and adding them to the rows as I needed them.

5 sashing rows

2DS, CU, 3DS, CU, 3DS, CU, 3DS,CU, 2DS

4 block rows

DS/CU/DS, BB, DS/CU/DS, BB, DS/CU/DS, BB, DS/CU/DS, BB, DS/CU/DS

Sew 5 sashing rows,

ONE at a time to keep things in the right order

Don’t worry about ironing your seam allowances just yet.

Return each row to design wall/floor/bed as you finish it.

Sew 20, DS/CU/DS units together

Iron seam allowances toward the DS

Return units to your design wall/floor/bed

Sew 4 block rows

ONE at a time to keep things in the right order

Ironing seam allowances towards the DS/CU/DS units

Return each row to design wall/floor/bed as you finish it.

Sew rows together.

Push seam allowances in sashing rows so that they snuggle with the block rows appropriately.

Iron seam allowances when finished.

Inner Border:

Gather

5, 2 x wof red strips

The following directions describe how I attach borders. With gentle handling this works just fine. If, however, you are apt to tug on your fabric as you sew measure your top and use the binding strips to make 4 long strips of the exact lenghts you need before you sew them on. Skip the rest of this section and proceed to your outer borders which you will do the same way.

Sew 2 strips, end for end along short side.

Iron seam allowance open

Attach this strip to one side of the top.

Iron seam allowance toward the border strip.

Trim excess

Sew excess, end for end along the short side to a wof strip

Iron seam allowance open.

Attach this strip to side parrallel to the border you have already added.

Iron seam allowance toward the border strip.

Trim excess

Repeat process on other two edges.

Outer Border:

Gather

6, 5 1/2″ x wof strips of border fabric

Refer back to inner border instructions.

Layer and Quilt as desired.

I hope you enjoy your quilt! Please take a photo of it and add it to my group on Flickr. Feel free to visit me too…there are lots of other fun things going on over at Tops to Treasures.

67″ x 67″ throw, perfect for watching a ball game or snuggling under while reading a good book.

A transplanted Yankee and happy Texan, Cindy works from her home in North Texas where she lives with her family.She started piecing quilts over 20 years ago and opened her long arm business, Tops to Treasures, in 2006.Since then she has quilted over 1,000 quilts.As a pattern designer, Cindy's goal is to write directions that encourage quilters to grow in their skills, and have fun. Her patterns are based on traditional designs, often with a modern twist.

The individual designers featured on this website ultimately hold the copyright for their projects and designs posted on the Moda Bake Shop. Patterns are not intended for sale or digital distribution. All items made from Moda Bake Shop patterns are for personal, non-commercial use only, unless given explicit written permission from the design owner to sell finished products made from their pattern tutorials featured on the Moda Bake Shop.